#Fangate ‘was the moment [Gov. Scott] lost the election’
ICYMI, last night’s debate between Republican Governor Rick Scott and (now) Democrat Charlie Crist got off to rocky start when Scott refused to take the stage because there was a small fan (prohibited by debate rules) at the bottom of Crist’s lectern.
Here’s Miami Herald reporter Marc Caputo’s live reaction to the controversy, quickly dubbed #Fangate on Twitter:
Gov, Rick Scott is refusing to show up at the press debate because Charlie Crist has a fan under his podium. This is not a joke it appears
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) October 15, 2014
Crist: "Are we really going to debate about a fan. Or are we going to debate about education…"
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) October 15, 2014
Everyone, turn on your TVs now. It now appears Rick Scott will appear on stage. Scott said debate rules prohibited Crist from having a fan
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) October 15, 2014
Bizarre.
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) October 15, 2014
Reaction from Twitter was swift, and the mocking of Scott and his refusal debate began immediately:
That didn't take long. @CharlieCrist campaign is raising money off #fangate
— Gary Fineout (@fineout) October 15, 2014
Well, now we know @FLGovScott would do almost anything to not answer questions #FLGovDebate #FanGate
— Juan Cuba (@juancuba) October 15, 2014
Congratulations, Governor-elect Crist. #fangate
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) October 15, 2014
The Florida GOP did tweet out this hilarious link to a Buzzfeed piece that has photos of Charlie Crist and his fan at different events…
THIS. IS. WEIRD. http://t.co/5Uwt9XbU10 #CristHitsTheFan #sayfie
— Florida GOP (@FloridaGOP) October 16, 2014
…but the damage might have already been done to Scott when he decided to make an issue of the fan to begin with:
Privately, Republicans/Rick Scott loyalists are telling me the moment he didn't go onstage over fangate was the moment he lost the election
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) October 16, 2014
A top Republican supporter, disappointed in Rick Scott, reacts to fangate pic.twitter.com/7pbKCeNqur
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) October 16, 2014
Worse for the Scott campaign, #Fangate isn’t slowing down and is even trending nationally this morning as we write this post, with the Crist campaign now using #Fangate and its popularity to hammer away at Scott:
No need to fear any of those things! RT @ScottFreeFLA: #fearthefan #fangate pic.twitter.com/tqKrYOW0Ow
— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) October 16, 2014
RT @NextGenFL: Rick Scott, not a fan of renewable energy… or fans #FLGovDebate #Fangate pic.twitter.com/I7hJ3M1spe
— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) October 16, 2014
RT @jamisonfoser: Rick Scott’s explanation for not coming out for the debate is literally this: ¯_(ツ)_/¯ https://t.co/BZ4gYpC6yO
— Scott Free Florida (@ScottFreeFLA) October 16, 2014
#fangate – what a night! Now, let's get back to the issues that matter to Florida. 19 days. Say you're in – here: http://t.co/1CFlgKZJsQ
— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) October 16, 2014
There have been some pretty funny responses from anti-Crist users, though. For example, that is Charlie Crist on the left. For real:
Before he had fans, Charlie was forced to wear half a shirt! pic.twitter.com/LyPbBAZhAg
— Brian Hughes (@GoMeteoric) October 16, 2014
And the Twitter account “Charlie Crist’s Fan,” that has been around for years, enjoyed getting so much attention last night:
Looking forward to all those front pages I'll be on tomorrow. Tanman, not so much. He doesn't like people knowing our secret life together.
— Charlie Crist's Fan (@CCristFan) October 16, 2014
Debate rules?? Fuckem. Tanman and I live by our own rules, bitches! http://t.co/o5ac2BrNRP #fangatge #FLGovDebate
— Charlie Crist's Fan (@CCristFan) October 16, 2014
The only spanish words I know are the ones Tanman taught me: pinga and cohones. Dont ask. @aibarra @JessStandsOut @Annette_Taddeo
— Charlie Crist's Fan (@CCristFan) October 16, 2014
..@ananavarro Why should a sweaty ass greek have to move to Alaska when he has me to keep him cool?
— Charlie Crist's Fan (@CCristFan) October 16, 2014
All these years keeping Tanman and thousands of Red Bull cans cool have finally paid off! #fame
— Charlie Crist's Fan (@CCristFan) October 16, 2014
The next debate will be on October 21 and moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper. Will #Fangate come up? Sounds likely:
Seriously, who among us ISN'T a fan of Florida politics? http://t.co/itxDkqtu9K
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 16, 2014
Until then, try to stay cool.
